Notre Dame's strength and conditioning program transition, at least as it pertains to Fighting Irish football, essentially is complete.
After hiring veteran Loren Landow in mid-December, capping an extensive search that saw Marcus Freeman speak to several of the industry's top-end instructors before nabbing the veteran and former NFL head strength coach Landow, the Irish now are finalizing their support staff around Landow.
Several sources tell FootballScoop that Travis Duffle is set as the Fighting Irish's assistant director of strength and conditioning for the football program.
A Colorado State graduate, Duffle has nearly a decade of experience working alongside Landow, from first interning with him in the Denver area to then helping execute Landow's highly successful training centers in the metro Denver region.
He's National Strength and Conditioning Association certified as a strength and conditioning specialist. Additional experience includes work as a head athletic trainer as well as working with D1 Training.
Richard Guarascio is joining Notre Dame's football strength and conditioning staff as its associate director, numerous sources shared this week with FootballScoop.
A former college football player, Guarascio has SEC experience -- stints at both LSU, under then-strength coach Tommy Moffitt, a noted expert and former FootballScoop Strength Coach of the Year who now will face Guarascio as head of Texas A&M's football strength program -- as well as NFL experience.
Guarascio was on staff at the Denver Broncos with Landow; he's also worked at Coloardo, LSU, South Carolina and had an extended run as the No. 2 strength coach at Washington State.
In addition to being a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Guarascio also is certified as a Level 1 sports performance coach for USA Weightlifting.
As FootballScoop first reported in December, Landow was hired by Freeman to replace Matt Balis atop the Irish football program's strength system after a search that included some of the biggest names in both collegiate and professional strength training.
Landow, sources with direct knowledge told FootballScoop at the time, received a contract worth more than $1 million annually. He was projected to be in the top-5 paid strength and conditioning coaches in college football at the time of his hire.
Notre Dame is just a few weeks in to Landow's initial winter offseason with the Fighting Irish football program.
The Irish open their spring camp next month, have spring break and then conclude their third set of preseason drills under Freeman with the annual Blue & Gold Game April 20 inside Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame opens its 2024 season Aug. 31 at Texas A&M.